Veterans Skyway Shines for Solar-Powered Traffic Safety

The city of Toledo and the Ohio Department of Transportation (O-DOT) are teaming up to add some solar flare to a prominent highway and bridge in the northern Ohio metropolis.
Solar panels will be mounted on stop signs, traffic monitors and
message boards to reliably increase traffic safety in this city of over
300,000 people.

The panels will collect solar energy during the day and use it for
illuminating busy intersection signs at night, an effort that the city
expects to save lives and prevent accidents and traffic delays. On a
slightly larger scale, plans are in the works to install solar panels
at the Veterans Glass City Skyway bridge in Toledo. The panels will be
powerful enough to meet all the bridge’s lighting needs.

Solar-powered interchanges and road signs are not new - they’re
frequent along many interstate highways, especially in remote areas of
the Northwest, where weather-specific signage is essential but power
lines are scarce.

The state of Oregon also started a “Solar Highways”
project, which already has one array of solar panels lining the
roadside on Interstate-5 and powering the lights at a nearby
interchange. Actual Solar Roadways could be in our future as well…